Before anyone could think further, a sloping passage opened beside the interrogation platform in the center.
Four guards in purple uniforms emerged in perfect step, holding a thin, bedraggled little man by his arms.
The guards secured Peter Pettigrew, who was trembling so badly his legs had gone weak, in the defendant's chair, then stood behind him together, alert for any unexpected trouble.
The balding Peter Pettigrew hunched his head and looked around the hall packed with ten thousand people, unable to stop shaking.
When he spotted Shawn and Dumbledore ahead of him, he nearly fainted from fright.
Snape's eyes blazed with fury. He drew his wand and was about to rush down, but the moment he moved, more than a dozen people around him rose to their feet.
One of them spoke.
"Professor, our lord ordered us to keep an eye on you. Please don't make things difficult for us. Our lord is fair. The wicked will be punished."
Snape recognized them all as Pentagram combat operatives. He clenched his fists, then finally suppressed his fury and sat back down, seething.
Naturally, Harry, who was also present, was even more agitated than Snape, but Draco and his other friends immediately held him back.
"Harry, don't do anything rash. This villain will get the punishment he deserves."
Harry could only stare at Wormtail with bloodshot eyes, glaring at this man who had returned from the dead. Yet a flicker of joy rose in his heart too: at least Sirius could be proven innocent.
Bang! Bang!
"Silence, please!"
Bones struck her gavel, silencing the murmurs and commotion throughout the hall. She took the documents Pierce handed her and began the formal interrogation.
"Are you Peter Pettigrew? Please answer yes or no!"
Wormtail still had a powerful will to live. Though he